Andy Murray has withdrawn from the 2023 Cincinnati Masters in order to allow himself time to heal from his recent injury and be ready for the upcoming US Open.
Andy Murray has been playing rather solid tennis lately producing a good run at the ATP 500 event in Washington and then following that up with a few wins in Toronto as well. This was always a solid part of the year for Murray and took preparations for it seriously.
His meticulous preparation obviously had a positive impact on his tennis and he won a couple of matches in Washington before losing to Taylor Fritz. He followed that up with some good showings in Toronto as well but withdrew due to an injury before facing Jannik Sinner.
The same injury has now kept him from playing at the Cincinnati Masters as he pulled out on the day of his first-round match against Karen Khachanov. Briefly commenting on his decision, Murray noted that it's an ab issue that's very similar to the one he had last year though not as severe.
It took me about 10 to 12 days before I was feeling good again. This is not as bad as that, but obviously the danger if you play on it is you make it worse.
There is a very good chance that Murray could have competed but as he noted it's not worth it. Possibly making the injury worse ahead of the US Open would severely hamper his chances at that event and obviously as a Grand Slam event it's a bigger priority than Cincinnati.
He'll now focus on recovering in time for the US Open and there shouldn't be any complications. Based on the info he provided, he should be good to go in two weeks' time. Emphasis on should, it's still a race with time.